I met with some high level educators not long ago and was talking about doctors and their public presence.  As often is the case, the conversation came back to risk, failure and all that can go wrong.  They wanted me to tell them if they did everything right, it would be smooth sailing.  Everything was going to be okay.

But I couldn’t tell them that.

I surprised them by suggesting that the transition from silo to public wouldn’t be smooth.  There would be failures, mishaps, difficulties and growing pains as their faculty found their way.  Good training would not preclude problems.  But despite these mishaps, the opportunities outweighed the apparent risks.

Doctors are programmed to believe that failure is bad.  And thinking you’ll go out into a connected world and not stumble has got nothing to do with social media and everything to do with the way we see ourselves as professionals.

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